A motion by Waterford's Sinn Féin group about the lifting of the eviction ban has been narrowly defeated.
It took place online yesterday afternoon and saw 13 councillors vote in favour of Waterford Council putting pressure on the government to extend the ban.
They were defeated by just one vote.
Leader of the Sinn Féin group locally, Councillor Conor McGuinness says he was very disappointed.
"I have to say, I believe it - and this is strong language - but I believe it was shameful and reprehensible the way in which some councillors voted," he told WLR News afterwards.
"14 councillors voted against the extension of the eviction ban.
"I think they should have joined with their 13 other council colleagues - there was only one vote in it - they should have joined with us in calling for the government to take action and extend the eviction ban."
"Nothing more than a charade"
However, Dungarvan Fine Gael Councillor, Damien Geoghegan, has labeled the vote and the meeting as a PR stunt.
He was one of those to vote against the motion, which he says would simply have resulted in the council writing a letter to the Taoiseach and would not have been able to affect any change.
"I actually think that yesterday's meeting was nothing more than a charade," Councillor Geoghegan said, "We actually spent two-and-a-half hours discussing a non-binding, meaningless motion, which was contrived - as far as I'm concerned - in order to get cheap publicity for Sinn Féin.
"And I made the point yesterday, I think councillors would actually be better served working to find actual solutions to the issues facing people here in Waterford, rather than playing games.
"The reality is that the eviction ban has achieved nothing. All it has actually done is it has driven people out of the rental sector."
The eviction ban will end on April 1st, this Saturday.
When that happens, Councillor Conor McGuinness claims that figures show more than 100 families will be immediately facing into homelessness.
"We have 119 households across Waterford City and county, that will be subject to actionable notices to quit on the 1st of April.
"As soon as the eviction ban expires, 119 households will be subject to eviction in the very first week of April.
"We know that there are many, many more coming behind them. We're waiting on figures from the RTB (Residential Tenancies Board) for quarter 4 Notices to Quit from 2022 - the 119 I referred to are for Q3.
"So, we know that there are more coming."
When it comes to allowing more houses and apartments to be built in Waterford, Councillor Damien Geoghegan feels elected members are as guilty as anyone else for providing obstacles to planning applications.
"There is a lot of red tape involved but what I have found - and I am 24 years a councillor now - what I find is people objecting and councillors objecting to housing developments when they are being put in place.
"I could name some of the best and award-winning housing developments that the council actually put in place over the last number of years and they all have one thing in common: they were all objected to.
"I'm talking about places like Na Fearnóga in Ballinroad, White Strand in Abbeyside in Dungarvan, White Orchard in Dungarvan - they were all objected to.
"That goes back to my original point; we need to work to find solutions."
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